Make budgeting be as powerful as it can be:

•    If you do not have a budget, start one now.
•    Add budgets to your monthly reporting package and your dashboards.
•    Keep your people in the loop about results against budget.
•    Review variances against your budget monthly.  Let your people know you are watching.
•    Get your key people to buy in and own their budgets.  Guide them on the overall revenues for the next year, but make the expenses come from the bottom up. 
•    If your business changes dramatically from the budget, re-forecast.
•    If an expense is no longer needed at the same level, challenge it.  Do not just spend because it is in the budget.
•    Keep the budgeting process streamlined.  Keep the energy level high.  Do not spend more time setting the budget than it is worth.
•    Take an objective view.  Go for the merits, not the politics. 
•    Show a flexible budget as well for some costs.  Know how you are doing relative to your actual sales level.

Have a good budget process going and each year you will find you get a little bit sharper.  You do a better job of estimating costs- variances get smaller.  You take less time budgeting too.

You have a much better chance of keeping operating costs in line.  And bringing in the bottom line you want.